The suffering of tens of thousands of asylum seekers continues in Finland and there are no signs that matters will improve. The Finnish government, which has made it clear that it will deport the majority of asylum seekers who came to Finland, has risen the stakes.
The latest move came on September 1, when a new law came into force that shortens appeal times thus adding more grief to asylum seekers.
It is incredible that a country like Finland, which claims to respect human rights, is ready to ditch them when it comes to asylum seekers from the Middle East and other parts.
One of the most preposterous claims by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri), and backed by the government, is that countries like Iraq are safe and therefore asylum seekers can return home.
The pictures below are from an asylum seeker who “returned home” after waiting for a year* for his residence permit without luck. He returned to Iraq to see his mother who was going to die. That journey cost him a trip to the hospital after he was shot by militias.
A very free translation of the above text written in Facebook:
“After brother Mohammed [Khulbus Idnan] escaped with his wife from Iraq, crossed the Aegean Sea in a boat that sank but whose passengers were saved by the Greek Coast Guard, they ended their long and dangerous journey to Finland by requesting asylum from this generous country that respects human rights. Both lived lived in the [northern Finnish] city of Kemi.
Mohammed entered Finland on May 10 last year and after hearing about his mother’s illness, he decided to return to Iraq. He wanted to see his mother before she died and returned to Iraq on May 2, 2016 at the risk of being shot by the militia in Baghdad. The power of God was stronger than the militia that wanted to kill him and aurvived after getting shot six times from an automatic weapons. He cannot walk [and is in hospital] because his nerves were severed.
I will try my best to get the news out so the Finnish newspapers will tell the public that Iraq isn’t a safe place [as the Finnish government claims].”
* There are some unconfirmed reports that Mohammed Khulbus Idnan got a negative decision from Migri and therefore returned back to Iraq. Whatever the case, he got shot by the militia when he returned to Iraq.